A matter of mythology

February 09, 2012

When Obradovic meets Maljkovic, something great happens on the stage of the European basketball. Therefore, I have many reasons to believe that the second semifinal of the 2007 Euroleague Final Four is more than a matter of history. I think that it is matter of...mythology! The game between Panathinaikos and Tau Ceramica brings two European basketball "barons" to OAKA's court. Two great coaches, two different styles, one word: success! Both Zots Obradovic and Boza Maljkovic have the know-how in creating and managing great basketball teams. They have changed the game and dominated the Euroleague in an impressive way.

So far, both Obradovic and Maljkovic have won 39 titles between them, with 9 of the 19 Euroleague trophies in the Final Four era included! Maljkovic, who is eight years older than his compatriot, came up big at the end of the 80's when he presented the "total basketball" of Yugoplastika Split. The current coach of Tau led the "zutko" in back-to-back titles (Munich 1989, Zaragoza 1990), before leaving for Barcelona to play a third straight final, which was a big disappointment for him. Barcelona lost the title game to his old team, Split, in Paris…

Maljkovic returned to the throne in 1993, in Piraeus, Greece, where his new French team, Limoges, surprised everybody with their defense-oriented game and won the trophy. At the end of the final, Petar Skansi, coach of runner up Benetton Treviso stated that "this is the death of basketball", but the future proved that Maljkovic was too hard to die. Three years later Boza did it again with Panathinaikos, which beat Barcelona in the most controversial final ever, again in Paris. In nine seasons, Maljkovic had won a total of four trophies -same as the fathers of European coaches, Pedro Ferrandiz and the late Alexander Gomelski - in six final four appearances, but he had to wait 11 years to get back to the Final Four stage, this week in Athens...

Zeljko Obradovic - Boza Maljkovic

Obradovic was present at the first Final Four (Ghent/1988) as a player of Partizan Belgrade, which finished third. Four years later he returned as the coach of Partizan and autographed the biggest surprise in Euroleague history. The Serbian team had been banned, played all but one their home games in Fuenlabrada, Spain, but managed to reach the Final Four and win it all on a miracle shot by Aleksandar Djordjevic.

Since then Zots has had an oustanding career that has made him without any doubt the "master" of the Euroleague. So far the 47-year-old coach has won five Euroleague trophies with four different teams, each that he has coached with the exception of Benetton Treviso: one with Partizan Belgrade (Istanbul /1992), one with Juventut Badalona (Tel Aviv/1994), one with Real Madrid (Zaragoza/ 1995) and two with Panathinaikos (Thessaloniki/2000, Bologna/2002).

This weekend Obradovic will try to win his sixth big trophy at home. On Friday's semifinal he will face the man who led Panathinaikos to the top, but also he will play against a team which looks like … a terminator for all Greek teams! It's not the first time that Obradovic and Maljkovic will fight in a Euroleague Final Four. They played each other in the 1995 semifinal in Zaragoza, where Real Madrid beat Limoges by 62-49 on the way to winning the trophy. They also were together, without facing each other, in the 1996 Final Four in Paris, where Obradovic's Real Madrid lost to Barcelona while Malkovic's Panathinaikos beat CSKA Moscow.

The relations between the two monsters of the modern era's Euroleague were built in 1984. Maljkovic was assistant coach in Red Star Belgrade and suggested to head coach Ranko Zeravica to sign guard Obradovic from Borac Cacak. At that time Red Star had four point guards, Zoran Radovic included, so they let Obradovic in the hands of their eternal opponent, Partizan Belgrade…

Nine years later, Lolo Sainz left Juventut Badalona's bench and the club was searching for his successor. General manager Francisco Cairot offered the job to Maljkovic. Boza was under contract with Limoges, however, so he warmly recommended Obradovic, whose Partizan boys had beaten Joventut already two years earlier, in Istanbul. "Take him immediately," Maljkovic told Joventut. "He is only 32 years old, but he is a great coach. If he will not make it, then you can shoot me."...Given that Maljkovic is still alive and has already appeared in Athens, it's clear that he was right!

Maljkovic and Obradovic have a lot of common codes in their philosophy, but they also have big differences. Captain of Panathinaikos Fragiskos Alvertis has played for both of them: "With Maljkovic you are exhausted after each practice. He emphasizes defense a lot and he absolutely defends his principles. Obradovic is also asking for a lot of defense, but he also likes the offense and the spectacular basketball. I should also say that Obradovic stands closer to the players, but this is normal, because he is younger and has much bigger playing background."

German guard Michael Koch, who also played for both coaches added: "Boza is tougher, more dogmatic and stays away from the players. Zeljko is more more sentimental and more demanding than Maljkovic."

Back in the 1996-97 season, Koch gave a nickname to Boza. He called him Julius Caesar, because of his style, especially in walking. I don't know who is going to dominate on Friday, but Panathinaikos surely wants to play the role of Brutus!

POSTED BY

Vassilis Skountis - Athens, Greece

DATE:

Thursday, May 03, 2007